Portable room cooling unit



n 27, 1939- A. J. LICHTY 2,163,691

- FORTABLE ROOM COOLING UNIT Filed Nov. 7, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 L i/ I mvemon m A Lick t z m f v ATI'ORNEY$ June ,1939. A. J. LICHTY PQRTABLE ROOM COOLING UNIT 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 7, 1952 III/701701717 1' INVENTOR 14.x Laid ATT RNEY} June 27, 1 939 A. J. LICHTY 2,163,691

PORTABLE ROOM COOLING UNI-T Filed Nov. 7, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR AJ Liz/1x;

' A RNEY;

Patented June 27, 1939 PATENT oar-ice PORTABLE ROOM COOLING UNIT Arthur J. Lichty, Birmingham, Ala, aslignor to Baldwin- Southwark Corporatioma corporation of Delaware I Application'November v, 1932, Serial No. 041,549

1 Claim.

My invention relates to a portable room cooling apparatus, comprising means for inducing two circulations of air, one an internal circuit open only to'the room or compartment to be cooled and the other an external circuit open only without said roomcr compartment, and mechanical refrigerating apparatus comprising means adapted to transfer heat units and moisture from the internal to the external circuit for removal from said room or compartment.

One important object of my invention is to devise a simple'and comparatively inexpensive cooling and dehumidifying apparatus which is so light and compact that itis capable of being embodied in a portable cabinet that can be readily transported to any desired point of use and removed therefrom when desired.

A further feature of prime importance is the provision of such an apparatus carrying its own vent connections for its external air circuit which are adapted to be passed through a window or any existing room opening or vent. I thus adapt my type of cooling apparatus to operate where no built-in pipes or special air vents are provided and I make it fully available for use in existing homes and-buildings where it would be impractical or prohibitivelyexpensive to provide any built-in' piping system such as have-heretofore been re- ..quired for all cooling systems.

I lay especial emphasis upon the utilization of the external air circuit to carry oil the heat and/ or the moisture removed from the internal air circuit and I may utilize thisnovel principle with that it will be taken up by, and discharged with this external air circuit,;thus eliminating the necessity for a drainage system, which however may be provided if desired.

My inverition further contemplates the provision" of a portable roller supported cabinet having window ducts for.its. external air circuit adjustably supported thereon and adapted to pass out through a window openingwhile permitting the window to be closed against entrance of extemal air into the room.

My invention further comprises subdividing the cabinet so as to provide for the passage of a fan induced internal air current over the heat 6 absorbing orexpansion coil and for the passage of a fan induced external air current over the heat emitting or condensing coil and into contact with the water extracted from the internal air cur- 10 ent material carrying the water of condensation.

My invention further comprises the novel details of construction and arrangements of parts which, in their preferred embodiment only, are hereinafter described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings which form a part of this 20 specification, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view on a reduced scale of a self contained room cooling unit;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view in vertical cross sec-- tion taken on the plane IIII of Fig. 1, the upper 25 arrows indicating the internal air circuit and the lower arrows indicating the external air circuit;

Figs. 3 and 4 are oppositely facing transverse vertical sectional views taken on the lines III-III and IVIV respectively of Fig. 2, the external air circuit conduits being here shown position in a window opening;

Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view looking to the front taken on' the line V-V of Fig. 4: and

in operating Fig; 6 is a detail view of the adjustable window 85 plate.

Similar reference numerals refer to similar parts throughout the drawings.

In the preferred embodiment of my invention illustrated, I have shown my improved cooling 4o apparatus embodied as a complete self contained unit housed within-a cabinet comprising a front wall III, bottom I I, back wall l2, end walls I! and I4, and a removable top IS. The cabinet is preferably mounted upon casters or rollers it upon to which it may be readily transported to the point of use or storage.

The cabinet as shown rises to a height above the normal window level and its rearwall I! is provided with two openings I'I. which are similar 50 let conduit IS is associated with the right hand is 40 This motor drives the compressor by the belt 31 opening I i, andeach of these conduits is provided at its inner end within the cabinet with outturned marginal side flanges 20 and with elongated top and bottom flanges 2i. The flanges 20 permit the ducts to slide vertically in the openings l1 and to accommodate themselves to varying window levels, while the flanges 2| maintain the openings l1 into the cabinet closed' throughout adjustments of the'conduits- Each external air conduit atits outer end telescopes into a sleeve carried by a plate 22, the conduit I8 telescoping into a sleeve 23 and the conduit 19 into a sleeve-24. This telescoping feature makes provisionfor adjustment in the conduits to accommodate them for use with windows of different design. These sleeves are carried by and open through the plate 22 to provide for the admission and discharge of the external air circuit. The plate 22 is associated with end extension members 25 which are slidably interlocked therewith, see Fig. 6, so as to permit of their adjustment-to fill out the entire window opening. Both the elements 22 and 25 along their top and bottom edges, and along the outer edges of the members 25, are provided with a resilient strip .or cap 26 which will make a substantially air tight joint with the window sash above and the -window frame below and at each end. Similar elements 21 may be provided to prevent the air leakage between the plates 25 and 22, thereby preventing the admission of external air except throughthe inlet conduit l8.

' The external air circuit entering through the conduit [8 doesnot gain access to theroom to be cooled but isdirected into an upper compartment 30 in the *cool'er cabinet from which it passes downwardly-through a port 3| into a lower compartment 32-01" the'cabinet in which is housed the condensing or heat emitting coil 33, the compressor 34, its driving motor 35 and the fan 36.

and the fan by the belt 38 and the fan is disposed at the opposite end of the compartment 32 from the air inlet port 3|, thus causing the air current to flow over the coil 33 and motor before discharging it upwardly into a compartment 39 which contains the means for presenting to the external circuit the water of condensation extracted from the internal circuit.

Compartment 39 contains a .water absorbing baflle sheet 40 and other absorption elements 4|, all of which may be of any suitable material, such as blankets or any pervious or water absorptive composition sheets and they are preferably suspended froin overhead rods 42 which are supported on brackets 43 carried by the front and rear walls of the compartment 39, as will appear more clearly in Fig. 4.

These elements form substantial baflles transversely across the compartment 39 and their upper ends are spaced substantially from the top H so as to permit the air current discharged upwardly into this compartment 39 by the fan 36 to rise above them and then pass downwardly between the absorptive elements 4|, as is indicated bythe dotted arrows in Fig. 4, on its way through the outlet conduit l9 and the sleeve 24 to the atmosphere or other space without the room to be cooled. The lower ends of the water absorbent baflles 40-4! hang in a receptacle 44.

The chambers 30 and 39 are defined below by a horizontal partition 45 carrying a vertical division wall 46 between these chambers. This wall extendsfrom the rear cabinet wall l2 to a longitudinal vertical partition 41 rising from the horizontal partition 44 to the level of the top l5 and extending from end to end of the cabinet, thereby serving to form in the cabinet an upper full length compartment having a grill 49 through which the internal air circuit enters the cabinet above the partition 45 and is drawn through the expansion coil 49 by the fans H and 52 operated by a common fan motor 53 and adapted to discharge the internal air current upwardly through the grills 54 and 55 providedin the topli.

I provide a suitable insulated inner lining 56 for the walls of the compartments through which the in ternal air circuit passes, so as.to prevent the condensation thereon of moisture due to the chilling oi the air in said circuit.

The expansion or heat absorbing coil 49 is mounted in a casing carried-by a partition 51 which causes the entire internal air current to contact with the heat transfer coil causing its heat units to be rapidly transferred to the refrigerant circulating in this coil. The water condensed in this internal air circuit, due to its drop in temperature, will drip into and collect in a vessel 58 arranged below the coil. From 58 the water will be conducted by a pipe 59 passing through a partition 41 into the vessel 44 into which the absorptive sheets 49. 4| depend.

The refrigerant flows from the compressor through a pipe line 6| past a sultablevalve 62 into the condenser coil 33 where heat is absorbed therefrom by the outside air circuit. From coil 33 the refrigerant passes through the pipe 64 and expansion valve 63 into the expansion coil 49 where it absorbs heat from the internal air circuit, after which it flows by a pipe 65 to the compressor past a suitable valve 66.

It will be understood that my invention is not concerned with the character of the refrigerant used nor with the refrigerating machinery employed. as the compressor as well as the expansion and condensing coils, may be of any suitable commercial-type, and this is also true of the fans or blowers which may be either of the centrifugal or propeller type.

It will also be understood that suitable electrical circuits and switch controlled means therefor will be provided for supplying current to the motors 35 and 53, such circuits being omitted for sake of cleamess from the drawings.

In operation, having moved the apparatus into the room or compartment to be cooled and having adjusted its external air circuit conduits to the proper height and interposed them in the window opening provided between the window sill 61 and the bottom rail 63 of the window sash with the plates 25 adjusted to engage the side of the window frame, the apparatus will be ready for service and upon supplying electrical energy to the motors the resultant operation is as follows.

The internal air circuit, induced by the fans 5| and 52, will enter the cabinet through the grill 49, pass over the expansion coil 49'and be discharged back into the room or compartment duced and flows inthemanner whichmill-now be described. I

The external air circuit enters through the sleeve 23 and conduit ll into compartment 30 and is drawn downwardly therefrom through the port 3| and over the condenser coil 33 and motor and is discharged by the fan 36 into compartment 39 whence it passes upwardly, by reason of the bailiing action of the end moisture absorbing baflle sheet 40, and then flows downwardly be-. tween the sheets 4| to make its escape through the outlet conduit l9 and sleeve 24. The heat removed from the internal air current by the expansion coil 49 will be transferred to the refrigerant which is drawn by the compressor, compressed and discharged into the condenser coil 33 where its heat is emitted and. taken up by the external air circuit. Thus heated the external air will pass over the water absorptive sheets 40, M on its return to the external atmosphere and thus will be in primecondition to absorb moisture from these sheets 40, 4| and to carry same out with it, thus discharging the excess moisture without the necessity of providing drains for the cabinet. I

It will thus be seen that the apparatus, by the fans and separate air circuits provided, will have constantly flowing through it two distinct cur-- rents of air, one being drawn from the chamber or compartment to be cooled and after the extraction of heat therefrom and excess moisture it is returned to said compartment, and the other air current being derivedfrom without the compartment to be cooled and after the transfer of heat units thereto and moisture, it is discharged without the compartment to be cooled. I thus provide a selicontained unit capable of transferring the heat and excess moisture from within the room to an outer space through the agency of an external air circuit.

While my invention contemplates more particu larly the provision of independent portable units the type above described, each carrying its respective external air vents, it is nevertheless to be understood that such an apparatus may be connected up to vents provided in the building, where provision in advance has been made for the use of such an apparatus. It is also to be understood that where overflow and drainage connections are available and convenient, the vessel ll may be drained by providing an outlet pipe II which is normally closed by the cap 12. This pipe ll may, by any suitable means, be connected to any suitable drain.

While I show absorptive sheets 40 and 4| as a preferred means of presenting water to the external circuit, other means may be substituted.

While I have shown my invention in but one form, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various changes and modifications, without departing from the spirit thereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are imposed by the prior art or as are specifically set forth in the appended claim.

What I claim is:-

In a portable air cooler located in a room to be cooled, a cabinet having one compartment containing air cooling means, another compartment for housing a compressor and a condenser, a fan for circulating room air over said cooling means and thereby extracting moisture from said air, a third compartment, means for conducting said moisture to a moisture absorbent material in said third compartment, and means for circulating outside air first over the compressor and condenser and thence over the absorbent material, whereby the moisture is dissipated into the streamof air heated by the condenser and discharged thereby without said room in which the air cooler is located.

ARTHUR J. LICHTY. 

